this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2024
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[–] [email protected] 192 points 10 months ago (6 children)

Sanders notably attributed the war in Gaza to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and “the right-wing Netanyahu government” — not to Israel in general.

This extremely obvious distinction seems to get completely lost in every discussion on the topic. I like Israel and they have the right to exist. I don't like far right conservative governments run by corrupt war criminals (but enough about Bush...).

[–] [email protected] 101 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Absolutely. Just like caring about the fate of innocent Palestinians doesn't mean rooting for the Hamas terrorists. Another distinction a lot of bad faith actors conveniently ignore in order to shift the narrative.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Absolutely.

There are essentially 4 groups that need to be discussed here. The governments of Palestine and Israel, and the civilians of Palestine and Israel.

The governments are both murderous monsters who feed off of each other to fuel their hatred and justify genocide.

The civilians are the Innocents being killed and displaced.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This is not a black and white issue though, that is to say: not all civilians are innocent, and not all officials are monsters

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago

Fuck me, real world is hard =/

[–] [email protected] 41 points 10 months ago

In part because there are people actively and deliberately muddying together the Netanyahu government and Israel (as well as Israel and Jews) so that any criticism of the actions of Israel or Netanyahu can be labeled "antisemitism".

[–] [email protected] 12 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I mean Netanyahu has been winning elections since 1996 (granted there was a gap in the middle) so the election is getting dubious.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 10 months ago (4 children)
[–] [email protected] 34 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Don't treat people worse than literal cattle for decades and they won't hate you.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Okay, say Israel tomorrow turns the other cheek. They take down all checkpoints and allow free travel anywhere for anyone.

How many Israelis die before the Palestinians decide they no longer "deserve" to die? Does Israel still exist in five years?

[–] [email protected] 22 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This same argument has been made throughout history.

"If we let Black people have freedom they'll murder all of the white plantation owners!"

Now, I wouldn't blame formerly enslaved people for murdering the people who enslaved them, but that didn't happen.

Aparthide in South Africa was ended without the promised (by white people) "white genocide" either.

Settler-colonial powers always think that the people they're oppressing will commit genocide, because it's what colonizers do.

The only road to true peace is full human rights for all.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

If there's an argument that's going to sway me, it's the historical comparisons. I need to read more about how similar situations have ended in the past, even if a direct comparison probably isn't fully accurate.

I'm absolutely interested in a path to peace; I just don't see one right now. I don't think putting 100% of the burden of peace on Israel is reasonable or possible. Hamas still has over a hundred hostages (assuming they're still alive).

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I don’t think putting 100% of the burden of peace on Israel is reasonable or possible.

Israel is the one who singlehandedly built the current status quo, going as far as to fund Hamas and support them against the PNA.

Hamas still has over a hundred hostages (assuming they’re still alive).

Because hostages are one of the few ways Hamas can get concessions (including Palestinian political prisoners) out of Israel. If Hamas doesn't have hostages Israel simply won't stop.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

why would anyone ever implement that hare brained scheme? most people that I've talked to just want an alternative to bombing the shit out of gaza and killing 21,000 people and like 8,000 kids or whatever, they're not saying israel should immediately just like, dissolve, and all israelis should be left to die and shit. They probably wouldn't even let themselves be killed, without a fight, you'd see something more like an impromtu military junta state crop up and increasing radicalization form among it and then on both sides, and you'd just get a repeat of what's currently happening but probably worse. I don't think that would ever reasonably happen, even, this is a dumb bullshit hypothetical. Even the people who want the dissolution of israel want it over the course of multiple years, or decades, even, where some jewish guy from staten island that doesn't even speak hebrew goes back home, and everything just kind of goes back to what might be considered "normal". The logical follow through of "I dislike it when a bunch of people are getting massacred" isn't "well now I guess we can't do anything at all, they can just march in and kill everyone and that's it. woops. look at what you made us do!". Most people recognize this, and just want the violence to stop as fast as possible, which is why nobody's really talking about the long term plans for what might happen after this. They're too focused on the horrible shit happening right now to propose anything.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

That’s because israel are killing all of the women, children, israeli hostages, and israeli soldiers, they aren’t worried about Hamas fighters just quite yet.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I mean yes, October 7th targeted military targets first and foremost. Even if you blame all casualties on Hamas (which is very much wrong; Israel shelled their own citizens during the attack) you're looking at a military casualty ratio of 33%.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

"The sample size of this poll is 1231 adults, of whom 750 were interviewed face to face in the West Bank and 481 in the Gaza Strip in 121 randomly selected locations." So 72% of only 1231 people is an accurate representation for the opinion of over 5.4 million people?

https://pcpsr.org/en/node/963

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago

How do you think polling works? If you had to "ask everyone" to have data, we wouldn't have any...

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I don't bother explaining when I comment, "Fuck Israel." If people don't realize that I'm referring to the government then I have zero to say to them.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Would you assume someone was referring to Hamas if they said "Fuck Palestine"?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Citizens should be moved into the same category as their government. The exact same way liberals lump all Republicans together because they support trump. They believe the same Zionist bullshit that they are gods chosen people (echoes of Germany Master race ideology) and it's their land. They elected Netanyahu because they support his ideology.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Literally 1% of Israelis believe that Israel is using too much force in Gaza. The majority believes they are using too little. If Israelis had their way the genocide would be even deadlier than it is today. This is not a state or a society that should be allowed to exist in its current state. The state has to be dismantled to deprogram the fascism and genocidal ideology that it is built on and perpetuates. This is not going to happen peacefully because they refuse to let it happen peacefully, not because anyone wishes suffering on them sadistically. A system of oppression and murder that refuses to be dismantled nonviolently is going to be dismantled by force. That is the only just thing to be done and the responsibility for it lies on Israel wholly.